Level 2 Data Credit Card Processing

What is Level 1 and 2 Data?

When processing a credit card, data levels are extra fields sent along with the transaction. Level 1 data is the normal information sent by the processor (Helcim) to the customer's issuing bank when processing a credit card transaction. This includes the merchant's name, transaction amount and date.

What is Level 2 Data?

Level 2 data is additional information about your business  and the transaction, including the tax amount, customer code, and business tax ID. Visa and Mastercard offer lower Interchange rates when this information is sent as they deem the transaction less likely to be fraudulent. Level 2 data processing is available to merchants whose customers are using business, corporate, and purchasing cards. 

For more information on interchange rates, click here.

What additional information is required?

In addition to all the information required for a level 1 transaction (including AVS), level 2 rates are determined by the Customer Code, and Tax information.

Customer Code: The code used to identify customers in your Helcim account.

Tax information: The tax amount charged per product/service and your business tax ID.  

Will this apply to every transaction? 

Yes, if the transaction is processed using a corporate, business, or purchasing card and the Level 2 Data is available. Helcim’s  system automatically retrieves and optimizes this data on your behalf, meaning that most B2B transactions should now automatically qualify for these lower interchange rates.

How do I add this information to my transactions?

To generate a customer code you must first create the customer in your Helcim account. For more information about creating customers click here. 

Your Helcim account will automatically calculate taxes based on the billing address provided (unless your products are set to be tax exempt). You can set up and  customize taxes  in the settings of your Helcim account. For more information click here.

Helcim will automatically report this information to the card brands when you process a transaction.